There are still 10 300 navigators and crew members who must have their licences changed

There are still 10 300 navigators and crew members who must have their licences changed
8/12/2017Press releases

The change of licences applies not only to motorists this year, but also to ship navigators and crew members. It is mostly professionals who must carefully watch the validity of their papers, i.e. navigators of vessels other than small vessels who obtained the licence between 1 May and 31 Dec 2014. The duty to change the license also applies to some navigators of small and recreational vessels. For this group this only applies to older papers issued between 1 Jan 1985 and 31 Dec 1995. Altogether, there are still 10 300 licenses that need to be changed by the end of the year. Only 4700 people came to have them changed this year.

There are still 10 300 navigators and crew members who must have their licences changed

The replacement of the papers arises from the requirements of the European directive, according to which the Domestic Navigation Act had to be amended already in 2014. It was also clearly defined who is the navigator or the vessel and what conditions he/she has to meet in each category.

The licence replacement can be done in any branch office of the State Navigation Authority. One ID photo, the completed application and the old licence (to be returned) are required for the replacement. When these conditions have been met, the replacement is free of charge. If an applicant does not return his/her old card, he/she will pay an administrative fee of CZK 100. The new paper will be issued to him/her within 30 days since filing the application. It will be ready for pickup in the branch where the application was filed.

The State Navigation Authority inspected 1275 vessels during this navigation season and found a breach of the law on 263 of them. It was mostly about failure to respect navigation signage, navigation of the vessel under the influence of alcohol and/or navigation without the licences being present on board the vessel. There were also 10 navigation accidents. In all cases only material damage occurred. When compared with the previous year, there was no significant increase in the breach of law or navigation rules. On the other hand, the situation on waterways has stabilised in terms of increasing traffic.









 
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